Like a spoiled teenager after being told she can’t have that Louis Vuitton purse, Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, sits sulking in the corner at G7 summit and refuses to negotiate other matters in depth until he receives a debt settlement deal that meets his standards.
As reported by the Guardian, Tsipras has been trying to finalize a €7 billion bailout agreement from Europe and the International Monetary Fund for months. With Greece’s creditor’s placing strict conditions on any deals, Greece has refused to accept any of the offers and has remained distant at recent meetings.
Tsipras’s inactive position has caused European commission president Jean-Claude Junker to confront Tsipras in a press conference, accusing him of undermining negotiations over new terms for a bailout and of effectively lying to the Greek parliament.
Juncker continued his venting session about Tsipras later in his interview with the Guardian, saying:
[Junker] had been disappointed by a speech Tsipras had given to the Athens parliament on Friday. “He was presenting the offer of the three institutions as a leave-or-take offer. That was not the case … He knows perfectly well that is not the case.”
Juncker said Tsipras had failed to mention to parliament his (Juncker’s) willingness to negotiate over Greek pensions.
He added: “I do not have a personal problem with Alexis Tsipras. He was my friend. He is my friend. But frankly, in order to maintain [the friendship], he has to observe some minimum rules.”
Negotiations, lies, and broken relationships — this sounds like the perfect daytime soap opera.
But stay tuned. With negotiations about the Russian sanctions, setting a 2C goal, and the Green Climate Fund donations all on the table for discussion and with tensions already high from lack of cooperation between nations, I’m betting these divas are just getting started.
